Porcelain Masks
by Inubaby-909
Summary: Years after Itachi's death, Sasuke and Naruto are once again best friends but have grown up and become elite ninja. Now, the two struggle to find a way to balance their changing relationship and the demanding lifestyle of being ANBU. SasuNaru AUish
1. The Festival

AN: Hi everyone! How are you doing? Anyways, this is the first installment of a Sasu/Naru story. Yes, that means Yaoi so if you don't like, please don't read. This chapter was beta'd by Inuzuka Notori and I want to dedicate this chapter to her so, thanks and I love you, Notori-chan! Anyways, I doubt anyone ever reads this so I'll just go on with the story. I hope you enjoy!

**Summary: **Years after his return from his quest to find his brother, Sasuke is once again best friends with Naruto but now they have matured, grown up and become members of the elite ANBU. Now, the two struggle to find a way to balance their changing relationship and the demanding lifestyle of being ANBU. Sasu/Naru.

**Disclaimer:** Oh how much I wished I owned Naruto. But alas, I don't. The custody is shared between Uchiha Sasuke and Masashi Kishimoto.

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**Porcelain Masks**

**Chapter 1: The Festival

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**

Weak tendrils of pale sunlight crept softly through the large windows of the Hokage Tower, crawling slowly over the hunched form draped across the messy desk while gradually gaining in strength as the sun peeked over the horizon. Soft snores echoed in the large room, synchronizing with the steady rise and fall of the figure's ample chest as the heavy breaths caused pale blonde bangs to flutter gently.

The sleeping woman woke with a thunderous snort as someone knocked loudly at the door, lurching upright in her seat while rapidly blinking away the remnants of drowsiness. The knocks sounded again, impatiently reminding the flustered woman of her visitors. Gathering her composure, she cleared her throat before calling out in a calm, authoritative voice that belied her previous position.

"Come in."

Immediately following her words, the door swung open to reveal a sinfully cheerful blond and an emotionally stoic brunette. Both were dressed in identical, form-fitting ANBU attire; the only differences being the unique porcelain masks that hung from their belts.

"Ohayo, Tsunade-baba!" crowed the tall blond, striding forward and plopping down heavily onto a chair with a bright grin that stretched the odd lines on his cheeks. His companion followed at a more sedate pace, flowing into the last seat with an effortless grace that was one of his many trademarks. He nodded his own greeting to the woman, though his face remained impassively blank.

It was especially at moments like this, noted Tsunade mentally, that the vast discrepancies between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were so easily visible. One was the loud, rash flames of a roaring inferno while the other was the cool, deadly fingers of frigid ice. If Tsunade hadn't personally seen the astounding fluidity that the two executed when paired together, she probably would never have placed them on the same ANBU team. _'I suppose opposites attract…' _she thought wryly, straightening out the somewhat crumpled papers on her desk before turning her cool gaze onto the two young men.

"You're too loud in the morning, Naruto," she commented, her affectionate tone taking away the sting of her words. The boy chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his golden head while his partner snorted quietly. Tsunade smiled slightly before fixing her eyes onto the other man. "I trust you have the report, Sasuke?"

The raven-haired man nodded in agreement as he reached into a vest pouch and pulled out a small scroll, placing it silently onto the desk. The woman picked it up, unrolling it and quickly skimming over the neat kanji of Sasuke's mission report.

Waiting patiently for the Godaime Hokage to finish, Sasuke subtly glanced at his companion from the corner of his eyes. Bored already, Naruto was fidgeting in his seat, his calloused fingers tracing gently over the red markings of his ANBU mask in a path memorized by long repetition. His bright blue eyes darted restlessly around the room, focusing briefly on random objects before dismissing them as uninteresting and moving on.

Sasuke ran his own dark eyes over the other boy's face, taking in the scarred cheeks, which had finally lost all of its puppy fat a few years back, and the brilliant azure eyes that were exclusive to the one and only Uzumaki Naruto. He really had grown up well; his childlike features melting away to be replaced by a maturity that, coupled with his natural charm, effortlessly won him high marks with both men and women alike.

The Uchiha very nearly jumped when Naruto's deep eyes suddenly met his gaze, the playful smirk on his lips telling Sasuke that the other man had caught him staring. Expertly squashing the urge to blush in embarrassment, the brunette responded by ignoring him, tearing his eyes away and settling them instead on the Hokage who had just looked up from the report.

"Naruto, Sasuke says that you were hit by a poison needle before you secured the target. Did you suffer any effects?" Sasuke heard the underlying worry and concern in her voice that had mirrored his own when he had first seen his partner's wound. They knew that the Kyuubi healed Naruto's injuries, but this was the first time that he had been injected with an S-class poison.

Naruto waved off their concern, grinning cheerfully as he folded his hands behind his head. "Nah, not really. I was a bit dizzy at first and my stomach ached, but Kyuubi neutralized most of the poison before it became dangerous." Tsunade studied him carefully before nodding in satisfaction and re-rolling the scroll.

"Very well. You can pick up your payments on the way out from Sakura. Dismissed."

Sasuke and Naruto stood simultaneously and walked out the door, Naruto calling out a farewell as they cleared the threshold.

"See ya, Baba!"

"Don't call me that, Gaki!!" Tsunade's furious voice trailed behind them and Naruto snickered as he approached Sakura's desk. The pink-haired girl looked up with a disapproving frown as she paused in mid brush stroke.

"You really shouldn't call her that, Naruto," she scolded lightly. "You're lucky enough that you don't have to bow respectfully when you address her, so don't push it!" Her hard frown softened into a tender smile as her pale green eyes carefully looked the blond over with motherly concern.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto," she murmured softly. Glancing at the tall man behind him, she added almost reluctantly, "You too, Sasuke."

Naruto beamed at her while Sasuke merely nodded, used to the hesitant manner that people treated him with since his return from Sound. He honestly couldn't care less about the way the others treated him; he hadn't come back for _them_.

"I missed you too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto announced loudly, a large grin threatening to split his face. "You should've seen me on the mission though! I was on _fire_!" Sakura giggled as Naruto waved his arms wildly in excitement.

Sasuke snorted, causing Naruto to turn to him with a questioning glance. "Yeah, you _were_ quite literally on fire," he scoffed, his coal black eyes twinkling with amusement that only showed itself to the blond before him. "If you hadn't fallen into the lake, you would've been in trouble."

Sakura laughed outright while Naruto pouted with enough cuteness to cause Sasuke to twitch. "Saaasukeeee!" he whined. "You didn't have to tell her _that_!"

"Hn."

Sakura's laughter faded into a happy smile as she gathered the money that was owed to the two ANBU, tying the identical purses with neat knots before handing them out. "Are you guys coming to the Festival tonight?" she queried curiously, rewetting her brush and crossing off Naruto and Sasuke's names from the payments due list.

Naruto nodded happily, an eager glimmer in his azure eyes as he all but hopped on the spot. "Yeah! I was worried at first that me'n Sasuke wouldn't make it back in time! I'll see you there, then?"

Sasuke held back an annoyed sigh as his two former teammates made plans to meet later in the evening, tucking his bulging pouch of money into a pocket for later use. Feeling his short amount of patience dry up when Sakura started describing her yukata to a raptly listening Naruto, the tall brunette cleared his throat pointedly.

"Naruto, I'm leaving." Without another word, the Uchiha spun around and started gliding slowly towards the ANBU locker rooms. Sasuke couldn't hold back a smug smirk as he heard Naruto saying a quick goodbye to Sakura before hurrying to catch up with him. By the time Naruto had reached his side, his face was once again blank and unreadable.

"You could've at least said 'bye' to her," Naruto muttered disapprovingly, a small frown etched onto his face as he matched his strides with Sasuke's.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, having already heard several different versions of this lecture. Naruto, sensing that his best friend wasn't paying attention, scowled before changing to a happier topic.

"I can't wait for the Festival! It's been so long since I've seen everyone all together!" shouted Naruto excitedly, his eyes dancing as he practically skipped down the hall. Sasuke didn't reply, wondering yet again how a twenty-year-old could act so childishly sometimes.

Turning bright blue eyes onto the quiet Uchiha, Naruto reached forward and grasped onto his arm guard, tugging lightly for his attention.

"Sasuke, Sasuke! You're gonna come too, right?" Sasuke fidgeted, recognizing Naruto's pleading tone and forcing himself to look anywhere besides the blonde's patented puppy dog eyes.

"Tch," he responded, pulling his arm from Naruto's grasp and fighting hard to keep his gaze forward since he knew his immunity to Naruto's pleas was close to zero. Naruto continued insistently, undeterred by the Uchiha's rather cold demeanor.

"But Sasuke!" he whined, unhappy that his best friend wasn't planning on going to _the_ get together of the summer. "You _have_ to go! It's like an unwritten rule that everyone goes to the Summer Festival!"

"All the more reason for me not to go," muttered Sasuke, entering the locker room reserved for ANBU members and marching up to his assigned locker. Naruto unlocked his own locker with practiced ease, still trying to persuade the stoic man into attending.

"No, I'm serious!" the blond argued vehemently, unzipping his white vest and shrugging it off. "_Everyone's_ gonna be there! Hell, even _Gaara's_ coming all the way from Sand!" Sasuke froze in the process of pulling on his long sleeved Jounin shirt, stiffening suddenly at the name.

"_Gaara_?" repeated the brunette darkly, annoyance settling deep within the man's stomach and curling up to fizzle softly just beneath his skin. His piercing eyes landed sharply on Naruto who was unbuckling his arm guards, mostly oblivious to the irritation emanating off the Uchiha.

"Yeah! And if the _Kazekage_ found enough time to come to the Festival, I'm sure that _you_ will have no trouble whatsoever!" Naruto flashed him a cheeky grin before peeling off his sleeveless, black turtleneck. His well toned muscles rippled deliciously under the dim light as he moved, momentarily distracting Sasuke before the tantalizing flesh was covered up by his standardized, navy blue, long sleeved shirt.

Immediately, Sasuke's aggravation returned two-fold and he scowled grumpily as he tugged on his Jounin vest. Shoving his ANBU stuff into his locker, he slammed the door closed before stomping out of the room and ignoring Naruto's shouts to wait.

* * *

Hours later, an irritable Uchiha sulked darkly in the corner of a bustling restaurant, glowering viciously at the succulent piece of pork wedged tightly between his chopsticks. Dark eyebrows furrowed even further as the blond idiot beside him gave out a loud bark of laughter, practically cackling with glee at something Sai had said from his seat across the table. Sasuke shot the carbon-copy of himself a blistering glare, becoming further incensed when the black-haired man merely replied with a smug smirk. 

The Uchiha bit angrily into his food, trying to block out the loud, boisterous chatter that ran up and down the length of the large table that had been specially arranged for their group. Even the usually distant Neji had dropped enough of his aloof demeanor to engage in a simple, friendly conversation with the shy Hinata.

Everyone was draped in colorful, decorative yukatas, reminding Sasuke why he was down here in the first place instead of scanning over strategy scrolls in the comfort of his home. Stupid festival; if it didn't exist, he wouldn't have felt obliged to attend just to keep his idiot of a best friend out of trouble. Now, here he was, swathed in a restraining, yet elegant, grey and black yukata while eating dinner with people he didn't necessarily like.

"Aw, c'mon, Sasuke! Pull that stick outta your ass for a minute or two and just relax, wouldja?" Sasuke winced internally at the decibel of Naruto's voice, turning to meet the blonde's grinning face with smoldering eyes.

Naruto looked magnificent. The blue tones of his yukata emphasized the brightness of his cobalt eyes, while simultaneously contrasting with the vivid yellow of his hair. The soft, cotton material clung to his body, framing his toned muscles and flashing glimpses of tan skin at his neckline and wrists. Needless to say, the cheerful man had caught the attention of many villagers when the large group of shinobi had trekked to the restaurant together.

Sasuke was about to snap back a sharp retort when a familiar, emotionless voice interrupted, causing him to stiffen rigidly in irritation.

"Naruto." Almost immediately, Naruto was out of his seat and pouncing on a crimson-haired Kazekage. Sasuke and Sai sported identical frowns of displeasure as the blond practically glomped the tall figure dressed in a majestic, tan and mahogany colored yukata.

"Gaara!" Naruto cried joyously, "It's been _forever_ since I last saw you!"

Although the red-head's expression remained carefully blank, there was a visible shimmer of affection and contentment in his pale green eyes as he gently returned Naruto's enthusiastic hug. "Indeed."

Unperturbed by Gaara's indifferent response, Naruto pulled away with a warm, understanding smile that spoke measures of the undeniable history between the two. Sasuke, who was pretending to be oblivious and uncaring of the situation, gripped his chopsticks tighter than necessary as he forced himself to focus on his food and not on the disgustingly tender scene unfolding behind him.

Naruto glanced worriedly at Sasuke, noting the tense shoulders and stiff back that betrayed the Uchiha's discontentment. Recalling the irrational animosity that continued to stubbornly linger between the Uchiha and the Kazekage despite his finest efforts to quell it, Naruto figured it was best if he kept them away from one another.

The blond scooted closer to Sasuke so that Gaara could squeeze onto his other side; this way, he sat between them and could easily prevent something from getting out of hand. Gaara slid into the proffered seat between Naruto and Sakura, nodding politely at the pink-haired girl who smiled nervously in response.

"Good evening, Kazekage-sama," she murmured respectfully, fighting the urge to squirm under the penetrating stare of the red-head. "I hope your trip was pleasant?"

"It was, Haruno-san," he replied softly, watching Naruto as the blond carefully placed strips of raw pork onto one of the large hot-plates that were strategically positioned along the length of the table. Glancing down at his unattended dish, Gaara was unsurprised to find a small mound of already cooked meat; Naruto had grown a habit of mothering the Kazekage and, while it was vaguely embarrassing, he couldn't resist exploiting the endearing act. A tiny, barely noticeable smile flitted across his face in gratitude and Naruto, who had managed to catch it, smiled gently back.

Fighting the urge to gag at the sickeningly sweet scene, Sasuke roughly got to his feet and began to make his way towards the back of the rowdy restaurant.

"Sasuke, where are you going?"

"Bathroom," he grunted, not even bothering to turn around as he addressed the loud blond. Weaving expertly around people and tables in the crowded area, the ANBU steadily worked his way to the large sign that advertised the bathrooms.

After he exited the washrooms, Sasuke paused, turning to glance at the familiar yet unwanted chakra signal that flared almost indiscernibly beside him.

Having successfully captured the attention of the brooding Uchiha, Sai spread his lips into an obviously fake smile as he continued to lean casually against the wall. "What's got your panties in a twist, Uchiha?" he questioned snidely, cocking his head to the side in a manner of feigned curiosity.

Narrowing his dark eyes, Sasuke frowned slightly before deciding to ignore the obnoxious man by returning to the table without replying. Out of all the things that had occurred during his absence, Naruto and Sai's friendship was possibly the one that Sasuke abhorred the most. It was bad enough that the former ROOT member was meant to be a _replacement_ for him, but then he had to go and actually forge a rather strong bond with _his_ best friend. Stupid wannabe…

The silently fuming man had barely taken a step when he was halted by Sai's next words. "So you're _jealous_, aren't you?" Whirling around abruptly, Sasuke pinned Sai with a blistering glare as he struggled to keep himself from springing forth and slitting the other man's throat. His ire continued to mount dangerously as Sai merely smirked coyly, seemingly unaffected by the Uchiha's death glare.

"What?" Sasuke practically snarled, his face still coolly blank despite the bubbling annoyance that simmered just underneath his skin.

The brunette shrugged indifferently, meeting Sasuke's icy stare evenly before nodding slightly towards their table. "Gaara and Naruto," he clarified when the Uchiha refused to oblige him by turning around to look. "You're jealous of Gaara and Naruto being so… familiar… with each other."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes further, letting the silence stretch between them before suddenly breaking eye contact and snorting softly. "I am simply wary for Naruto's welfare," he replied coldly, turning his back on Sai again. "The _Kakekage_ tried to kill him once." This time, Sasuke got a few more steps further before Sai interrupted him again.

"Just like how _you_ tried to kill him?" Immediately, the man found himself slammed into the wall with enough force to crack a few ribs, smoldering red eyes glaring furiously into his own eyes as a strong hand slowly crushed his windpipe. Damn, he had forgotten how fast the Uchiha could be when he tried.

Leaning in close, Sasuke tightened his grip around the other man's throat and reveled in the struggled gasps as he made sure he was getting his point across. "Don't speak of what you don't understand," he growled lowly, the bright red of his Sharingan flashing ominously in the dim light.

"Sasuke, what the _fuck_ are you doing?!"

Ignoring the indignant squawks coming from the blond behind him, the Uchiha kept his gaze locked unwaveringly with Sai's. The previously bustling restaurant was frozen in tense silence as curious onlookers watched the rare clash between two high-ranking ninjas who were known for their control over their emotions. Even Naruto was unwillingly silenced, standing nearby with Neji who had placed a calm, yet restraining, palm against the blond ANBU's chest. The rest of their table watched on in various stages of wariness, ready to react with the slightest hint from their Captain.

Although Naruto longed to leap forward and pull the two men apart, his respect for his Captain kept him in place, his mouth a thin, tight line as he watched his close friends in concern and confusion. He was positive that Sai had goaded the Uchiha into retaliating, the man had an uncanny skill in such things, but it was completely unlike Sasuke to respond so brazenly in such a public place.

His unusual behavior was the last thing on Sasuke's mind as his Sharingan drilled into the other man's eyes, waiting for only a moment before he was presented with what he sought after. Sai, his survival instinct flaring brightly in the back of his mind, reluctantly dropped his gaze and submissively averted his eyes to the side.

Satisfied, the Uchiha let go of his tight grip on the other man's neck, completely disregarding the many cautious stares directed at him as he calmly strolled out the door of the restaurant. As the door swung closed behind him, the strained silence broke abruptly as the diners began to gossip loudly about the instability of the remaining member of the Uchiha clan. Only one table remained silent, its occupants exchanging curious glances as they wondered what might have caused the uptight Uchiha to lash out so brashly.

Naruto and Sakura hovered over Sai, the blond bombarding him with questions while the medic took a look at his bruised throat and cracked ribs. Finally, fed up with the brunette's stubborn silence, Naruto whipped around and launched himself out the door in hopes of dragging some questions out of the Uchiha.

"This is better than TV!" squealed Ino, clapping her hands together excitedly. "I wonder if Sasuke will tell Naruto tonight!"

"Whatever," Kiba snorted, bringing his arms over his head in a stretch before reaching down to scratch one of the massive Akamaru's ears. "If you ask me, he needs to take that prissy 'I-art-better-than-thou' attitude and stuff it up his ass." He paused briefly before continuing with a crude grin, "But I doubt it would fit with that stick up there too."

Ino smacked Kiba upside the head while some ANBU snickered softly at his words. "Kiba!"

"Whaat?" he whined childishly, rubbing the back of his head tenderly. "It's true!"

"He only acts that way because he _is_ better than you," Shikamaru drawled lazily, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke. Kiba sputtered angrily as the entire table broke out in laughter at his expense.

"I don't think he deserves Naruto-senpai, despite all his _skills_." All heads turned to the sudden speaker, a fiery-haired girl with equally brilliantly colored eyes. She met all their stares evenly, her hand resting on the head of an elegant auburn colored dog who sat by her chair. Although recently appointed, she had managed to earn the respect of most of the ANBU and was thus unafraid to speak out so boldly.

"Akane, you're only saying that because you've been smitten with Naruto ever since he volunteered to be your sponsor," Kiba teased playfully, reaching across the table to pinch her tattooed cheek. "Isn't Akane-chan so cute with her wittle cwush?"

Reddening to the color of an overripe tomato, Akane delivered a solid punch to Kiba's nose, sending him reeling back with a cry of pain. "Just 'cause you're my cousin doesn't mean I'm less inclined to beat the shit out of you," she threatened hotly, glaring at the man who was now moaning dramatically about the treatment he received from the opposite sex. "And I am _not_ smitten!"

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"Sasuke! Sasuke-teme! Stop ignoring me, you duck-butt-headed emo-kid!!" 

Frowning at the jab at his gravity-defying hair, Sasuke sped up slightly, weaving deftly through the brightly dressed crowd of villagers who were enjoying the various stalls set up specially for the Festival. Sensing that Naruto's chakra signal was closing in rapidly from behind, Sasuke abruptly switched directions and leapt effortlessly onto the rooftops. Although it would be harder to remain out of the idiot's sight, it would also be much easier to outrun him.

A loud curse and the slight shifting of roof shingles told Sasuke that Naruto had clumsily joined him on the roofs, and with a challenging smirk thrown over his shoulder, the Uchiha launched himself forward. Though Naruto had definitely improved over the years and was more or less evenly matched with him, Sasuke still had the upper hand when it came to speed and agility and he used that to his advantage as he practically rocketed across the rooftops of Konoha.

"Goddamnit, Teme!" Naruto cried out in frustration, struggling to keep up with Sasuke's superior speed. Not wanting to resort to using Kyuubi's chakra just for a measly chase, Naruto opted to use one of his more favored techniques instead.

Sasuke glanced behind him when a surge of Naruto's chakra flowed over him, signaling that the Kyuubi-container had used a jutsu of some sort. Cursing mentally at the sight that met his eyes, Sasuke pumped more chakra into his legs to further increase his speed, hoping to get out of sight before Naruto made his move.

The blond, on the other hand, was grinning widely as he stood on the back of a relatively large, green frog, wisps of smoke from the kuchiyose no jutsu still curling around them in lazy swirls. "C'mon, Gamatsuri, let's catch ourselves an Uchiha!"

The frog croaked loudly in concurrence before crouching down low, the muscles in his hind legs bunching up as he prepared to leap. Then, like the spring of a trap being triggered, the two of them blurred into barely distinguishable colors as they whipped forward rapidly in a ground-eating hop that brought them less than 20 feet away from Sasuke. Gamatsuri's webbed feet had barely touched the shingles of the roof before they were leaping off again, coming within arm's reach of the Uchiha this time. Instantly, Naruto grabbed for the back of his yukata but missed as Sasuke dodged easily with the grace of a true Uchiha.

Realizing that outrunning the blond was impossible now that he had his cursed fast frog, Sasuke came to a gradual halt, facing the triumphant Naruto who was now standing beside his summoning. To be defeated by an amphibian of all things, how demeaning.

Noticing the murderous glare that the Uchiha was sending Gamatsuri, Naruto diverted his attention to himself before his faithful summoning ended up in the kitchen of a French restaurant of some sort.

"You ready to tell me what's got you so worked up yet, or do you wanna play another round of tag?" he questioned playfully, smirking at the raven-haired man. Sasuke snorted in reply before turning his back on the blond and sliding down onto the roof. Taking that as an agreement to talk, Naruto dispelled Gamatsuri after a murmured thanks and treaded over to sit beside his best friend.

The two sat in companionable silence, taking comfort in each other's presences as they contemplated various matters. Eventually, Naruto was the one who took the initiative and spoke up.

"So why exactly did you feel the need to go all alpha-male on Sai? I mean, I know his face is annoying to look at but I'm sure _you're_ used to it by now, considering you see it every time you look in the mirror," Naruto jibed with a grin, his bright blue eyes twinkling lightly in the faint glow of the Festival lanterns and the moonlight.

Sasuke didn't answer, shrugging slightly as his eyes stealthily ran the length of his friend's figure. The man's yukata was now thoroughly rumpled and wrinkled and there were some food stains visible, but he still looked breathtaking in the Uchiha's eyes. Grunting softly in annoyance at such out of character thoughts, Sasuke turned his intense gaze up to the sky above. Sensing Naruto's impatience, Sasuke sighed in mild exasperation.

"Hush and stop fidgeting. The fireworks are starting," Sasuke murmured quietly. Naruto looked up in excitement, momentarily forgetting about the entire Sai business as the first of the fireworks exploded in an array of brilliantly sparkling colors.

"Uwah! Sasuke, they're so cool!" The Uchiha grunted in agreement, watching the display in silence that was broken only by occasional gasps from Naruto and the boom of each firecracker exploding. After almost 20 minutes of comfortable silence, Sasuke was shaken out of his almost meditative state by a strong, tan hand pulling lightly on the sleeve of his yukata. Turning his attention onto the blond beside him, he was curiously surprised to see the usually bold man looking shy and bashful.

"What is it, Naruto?" he asked softly, entranced by the timid blush on the other man's cheeks.

"Ne, Sasuke…" Naruto trailed off, glancing down before looking up again and meeting Sasuke's eyes with a beautiful smile. "I'm glad it's you I'm with right now."

Sasuke, taken aback by the surprisingly affectionate words, blushed lightly before smiling back and nodding in agreement.

"Me too, Naruto. Me too."

* * *

AN: Ok so that was the first chapter, I hope you liked it. Please review if you can, and I'll upload the second chapter as soon as I can. Take care! Oh and P.S. Gamatsuri and Inuzuka Akane are characters I made up, so don't be surprised if you've never heard of them before.


	2. The Spar

**AN: **Hey, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I sure did :D! Anyways, sorry for taking so long, you know how hard it is to find time during the holidays, and with New Year's coming up (I'm hosting a house party, woot!), I probably won't start the next chapter til maybe the 3rdish. I'll try my best to keep a steady pace and update as soon as I can.

Thanks so much for all the reviews! Everytime I see that I have a new one, I feel super motivated to continue writing. (P.S. _Dragon of Blood, _it was originally brainstormed as a one-shot, but I had so many ideas that there was no way it would all fit into a one chapter thing so I decided to make it a multiple chapter story).This chapter is shorter than I was planning, cuz I cut off a portion of it to be in the next one, but I'll try to make it up. This chapter was also beta'd by the wonderful _Inuzuka Notori_ so I would like to send all my gratitude to her (for staying up til 5 with me so she could beta it) and I would also like to dedicate this chapter to her too. You're the best, Notori-chan! And now, onwards we march, towards the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it! 

**Summary: **Years after his return from his quest to find his brother, Sasuke is once again best friends with Naruto but now they have matured, grown up and become members of the elite ANBU. Now, the two struggle to find a way to balance their changing relationship and the demanding lifestyle of being ANBU. Sasu/Naru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, despite all the desperate letters I sent to Santa this year. :(

* * *

**Porcelain Masks**

**Chapter 2: The Spar**

* * *

"Naruto-sempaaaiii! That's not fair!"

Sasuke mentally cringed at the shrill, girly cry that rang out from the training grounds that he had been heading towards, realizing remorsefully that his option of training in solitude had been stomped upon by the higher ups. They really did revel in any possible chance to make him miserable.

"Ya huuhhhh! You have _him_ so it's only fair that I have a clone on _my_ side!"

"But you don't have _one_ clone! You have _six_!"

"Oh.. right.. ehehehe.. Well, since they're already here, let's just do this. Or are you not good enou-"

"_Fine_!"

Fighting the urge to just turn around and head back to bed, the raven-haired man strode silently into the small training area just in time to see a large, red, furry blur clamp viciously onto one of the Naruto's necks. In a poof of grey smoke, the clone dissipated, leaving a growling, pony-sized dog in its place. The remaining six Narutos all winced in sympathy, one of them turning to the short red-head and pouting childishly.

"Akane-chan, you don't have to be so ruthless..." The newest ANBU rolled her crimson eyes in exasperation, but there was a hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"Whatever, Naruto-sempai. It's not as if you would've _let_ Taimatsu bite you," she scoffed, nodding a reluctant greeting to Sasuke as all the Narutos beamed and waved enthusiastically. Sasuke frowned in response, not in a very social mood so early in the morning. Naruto shrugged it off, used to his best friend's aloof manner, but Akane scowled in disapproval. She was in the process of opening her mouth to comment when Naruto flashed suddenly in front of her, cheeky grin firmly in place as he swung back his arm.

Instantaneously, Akane shifted and blocked with her forearm, grunting under the strength of the attack before winding her arm around the blonde's and grasping a tight hold of his orange sleeve. Twirling lithely, the small woman heaved the much taller man over her shoulder, sending him flying through the air. Launching herself after him, Akane twisted herself into a spinning tornado of red and black that was the trademark attack of the Inuzuka clan.

"Tsuuga!" she cried as her claws collided roughly with Naruto's chest. Instantly, she was surrounded by a cloud of smoke as yet another clone was destroyed. Landing lightly on her toes, Akane frowned at the remaining Narutos, all of them wearing identical smirks of amusement.

"What's the matter Akane-chan?" the one closest to her taunted playfully.

"Can't you smell the difference between kage bunshin and real people?" another one jibed, flashing white teeth as he grinned at her.

"Obviously not, otherwise your jugular would've been ripped out by now!"

Sasuke watched on in mild bemusement as the girl, the dog and the idiot clashed together in a rather impressive display of skills, itching for a sparring partner himself. Eventually, with a loud yelp, Akane was sprawled on the ground, a triumphant Naruto looming over her as he held a kunai to her throat.

"Pinned ya," he smirked smugly, ignoring her glare as he helped her up. Taimatsu trotted over to his partner, nuzzling her comfortingly as she took in the completely unfazed state of the blond. Akane was no narcissist, but she knew that she was more than able to hold her own in a fight, and here was a man who, after a rather lengthy battle with her, wasn't even out of breath!

"Thanks for the spar, Akane-chan!" Naruto crowed loudly, breaking her out of her thoughts as he nodded to her gratefully. "You too, Taimatsu!" Reaching over to the large canine, the blond ruffled the dog's head, gently scratching at his ears as he barked in cheerful acknowledgement.

All three of them looked up as Sasuke walked towards them, stopping a few meters away with his usual indifferent expression firmly in place. "You up for another one, Dobe?"

Akane blinked in surprise as Naruto agreed instantly without an ounce of hesitation. The man seemed to have an endless amount of stamina. Curious about the fighting styles of two of the most renowned ANBU, Akane found a comfortable seat against a nearby sakura tree as she prepared to watch. Taimatsu curled up at her side, yawning in fatigue before plopping his large head on her lap and dozing off.

At opposite ends of the training grounds, Sasuke and Naruto stood silently, postures strangely relaxed as they faced off in the traditional, pre-battle staring contest. The blond had his arms crossed languidly over his orange-clad chest, a confident grin smeared across his lips while he evenly met his best friend's obsidian stare. Sasuke returned Naruto's grin with a small smirk, his hands tucked casually into the pockets of his pants as cool nonchalance all but seeped from his pores.

"How much?" Naruto asked lazily, absently fiddling with the material of his loose shirt. Sasuke didn't answer immediately, seeming to ponder the question thoughtfully before replying.

"Seventy percent."

Naruto raised an eyebrow questioningly, surprised by the unusually high number for a mere spar. It was rare that they went over 60 percent of their normal chakra potential while still within the village, due to the rather destructive power of many of their jutsu. The ANBU training grounds were perfect for their heavier spars since it was closed off with special seals, but Sasuke seemed rather impatient this morning, so they would just have to make do and be careful.

"You sure?"

"Hn."

In the blink of an eye, the two simultaneously disappeared, reappearing almost instantly in the middle as they exchanged a series of kicks, punches and blocks in rapid succession. Dropping fluidly to the ground after blocking a rather hard roundhouse kick, Sasuke swept his leg out in a graceful arc in an attempt to knock the blond off his feet. Instantly, as Sasuke had predicted, Naruto jumped up to dodge the attack and in the process left a small opening in his guard. Seizing the chance, Sasuke drove his fist forward and landed a hard blow against the blonde's ribs that would probably bruise if not for the man's exponential healing rate.

With a soft grunt, the blond melted into a cloud of smoke and Sasuke spun around quickly as three new Narutos leapt up at him from behind. With a swift flick of the wrist, a few shuriken were sent flying straight into the chest of the one in the center, and the clone disappeared with yet another puff of smoke. The remaining two didn't falter the slightest bit as they continued their attack, one of them launching forward with a flying punch as the other one slid down in an imitation of Sasuke's previous sweeping kick.

Sasuke, timing himself carefully, rolled with the punch and flipped backwards onto his hands, just barely dodging the blonde's sweeping leg as he used his momentum to his advantage and smashed the soles of his feet into the first Naruto's chest. The blow sent the man flying backwards and Sasuke, continuing his motion, flipped out of striking range of the other Naruto. Both blonds flashed him identical, mischievous grins before initiating a new attack.

The one nearer to him charged forward, delivering a swift flurry of blows that Sasuke either blocked or dodged, as the other Naruto hovered close but still out of arm's reach. Abruptly, the Naruto fighting him smirked and leapt away, causing Sasuke to hesitate in confusion for a millisecond before he noticed the sizzling exploding seal at his feet. Easily darting away from the blasts of the explosion, Sasuke turned to give the Narutos a "Did-you-seriously-think-_that_-was going to work?" look but was cut short as a barrage of kunai whizzed towards him.

Dodging past the dangerously sharp metal, Sasuke flashed towards the closest Naruto and launched into a rapid and complex series of kicks and twists that were completed all before the final kunai embedded itself into the soft ground behind him. The blond dissipated into grey smoke, leaving only Sasuke and the real Naruto in the middle of the training grounds. Sasuke smirked cockily at the man, eyebrow raised condescendingly as he waited for the next attack.

True to his form, Naruto waited for barely a second before whipping another kunai at his sparring partner. Sasuke, slightly confused at Naruto's rather incompetent actions, reached up to catch the blade but changed his mind when he saw yet another exploding seal wrapped around the hilt of the projectile. Jumping back, he effortlessly evaded the blast yet again, but was caught somewhat surprised when the previous kunai lodged in the earth behind him popped back into their true forms of Naruto clones.

Twisting in midair—as he hadn't landed from his jump yet—Sasuke flowed speedily through a set of hand seals. Finishing just as the group of Naruto launched up to attack him, the Uchiha gathered his chakra into his chest and mouth and unleashed his jutsu when they were barely 2 feet away.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he cried loudly, expelling a large fireball that quickly engulfed the kage bunshin and dispelled them. Landing lightly onto the ground, Sasuke ignored the slightly charred grass and walked slowly towards where Naruto was standing with a small pout. Stopping while just out of hitting distance of the blond, Sasuke slid his hands back into his pockets.

"Are you done playing around, yet?" he asked softly, eyebrow quirked questioningly.

Naruto maintained his frown for a little bit longer before allowing it to melt into an eager grin. "'Course, Teme. I was just warming up."

"Good." Closing his eyes briefly, Sasuke concentrated lightly before reopening his eyes to reveal the shimmering red and black of his Sharingan. He paused for half a second before darting forward to meet Naruto's attack. The two clashed violently, trading blows and jutsu that left various bruises and cuts on their bodies, as well as craters and gouges in the earth.

After a long, draining three hours, Sasuke was left panting on one side of the torn up fighting grounds while Naruto gasped for air on the other side. Both were relatively mussed in appearance; Naruto's orange shirt was slightly singed from barely dodging another fire technique, while Sasuke's clothing were stretched and torn from Naruto's rough manhandling. Sasuke was sporting a nasty looking black eye and multiple minor lacerations and Naruto was cradling a sprained wrist.

"You gonna give up yet?" Naruto wheezed out, fighting to catch his breath. He grinned wryly at Sasuke's snort, expecting the answer and preparing himself for another bought of smashing each other's faces in. Glancing down at his injured hand, he experimentally rotated his wrist and cringed lightly at the sharp pain that streaked up his arm. It seemed that ignoring the sprain and using it anyways had only made it worse. Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto pushed the thought of his throbbing wrist to the back of his mind and straightened up.

Sasuke, seeing that Naruto was getting ready to attack, straightened as well, warily watching as Naruto tiredly formed hand seals. His Sharingan easily read the pattern of seals and identified it, allowing Sasuke to prepare and perform his own jutsu to counter Naruto's.

"Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu," Naruto panted out breathlessly as he made the last hand seal, concentrating his chakra onto the small man-made lake that was located at one end of the training area. Slowly at first, but quickly gaining in speed, a large column of water rose from the surface and crash violently onto the Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked and smashed his hand onto the ground, having performed his own hand seals while Naruto had. "Doton: Doro Gaeshi!" Naruto blinked in surprise as a large wall of compacted dirt erupted from where Sasuke had slammed his hand, creating a protective barrier around the Uchiha that easily repelled his water technique.

Cursing Sasuke his ability to manipulate _three_ elementals—fire, lightning and earth—while he himself was only able to manipulate two—wind and water—Naruto heaved a sigh and slumped to the ground in a boneless heap. His wrist was seriously throbbing now, despite Kyuubi's healing, and he was hungry from going practically the whole day without eating.

"Sasuke," he called tiredly as Sasuke limped around the earth wall towards him. "Let's call it a draw; I want ramen."

* * *

Sighing in exhaustion, Sasuke toyed restlessly with the soggy noodles in his bowl as Naruto shoveled down his share with disgusting gusto. The blond had successfully persuaded Sasuke into, not only coming with him to the stand, but also paying for both of their meals. The Uchiha suspected that the other man did it just for kicks, seeing as how he could easily pay for his own portion with the relatively large sum of money they received for doing A and S-class missions, but he didn't have the energy to protest at the moment.

Used to getting visits from the two men right after a spar or mission, the owner of the stand didn't comment on their rather bedraggled appearance and instead was kept busy satisfying the blonde's huge appetite. While Sasuke was still halfway through his first bowl or ramen, Naruto was already on his third and looked like he was just about to finish.

Akane, having followed them to the stand with a new sense of respect, watched in a mix of awe and revulsion as her sponsor gobbled the noodles up without even bothering to chew. The large, red-coated dog sitting beside her stool watched the man eat with his head tilted to the side in a rather adorable manner; in his opinion, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the blonde's eating habits, so he didn't understand why the other humans were so appalled.

"Ahhh!" Naruto exclaimed in satisfaction, slamming his empty bowl down onto the surface of the counter as he leaned back and rubbed his full stomach. "I love ramen!"

"Yes, I can see that…" the redhead beside him murmured, still dazed by the man's horrible table manners. Blinking when Taimatsu barked suddenly, she looked down and raised a questioning eyebrow at the big canine. "What is it, Taimatsu?"

Naruto and Sasuke watched in silent bemusement as the dog began to speak to the short girl cheerfully with his tail wagging excitedly behind him.

"We have to go meet Hana-san for our special training, 'Kane," he reminded, getting up onto all four paws and shaking himself before offering his back to Akane.

"He can _talk_!" Naruto cried animatedly, staring at the elegant dog in excitement. "That's so cool!"

"Of _course_ he can talk, Naruto-sempai," Akane snorted, paying for her meal before standing up and hopping astride Taimatsu casually. "_All_ nin-ken learn how to talk eventually."

"But I've never heard _Akamaru_ talk and _he's_ a nin-ken!" Naruto rebutted loudly, crossing his arms over his chest confidently. Beside him, Sasuke sighed again and wished that he had just stayed in bed today.

"Well Akamaru just doesn't like talking to idiots, I suppose," she teased, grinning playfully before raising her hand and disappearing with a "Ja!" before he could reply. Grumbling softly about annoying, redheaded noobs, Naruto sunk back into his seat and turned towards his best friend. The man returned the stare halfheartedly, clearly not in the mood to deal with a hyperactive blond. Realizing this, Naruto smiled softly and apologetically.

"You okay?"

Sasuke, sensing that Naruto was attempting to be considerate, bit back a sharp remark and instead nodded. Reaching out, he grasped hold of the hand that was resting on the counter and examined it gently.

"How's your wrist?" he murmured softly, a hint of concern in his tired voice.

Naruto blinked in surprise before looking down and opening and closing his hand experimentally. "Heh, I forgot all about it," he replied sheepishly, chuckling meekly at Sasuke's exasperated sigh. "But it's all good now! Kyuubi healed it up and it's only a bit sore now."

Sasuke watched the blond carefully for any hints of deceit but found none. He grunted in satisfaction and carefully released his hold on Naruto's hand, leaning back and fixing a curious gaze onto the beaming man.

"Do you… do you ever talk to the Kyuubi no Youko?" he asked, uncharacteristically hesitant. Naruto didn't answer immediately as he stared at the brunette in mild confusion. Although Sasuke had found out about the fox demon a few years ago, the blond was still a bit uncomfortable talking about it in front of one of the people he admired most. Sasuke usually respected his privacy and rarely ever brought it up, though he would probably be the only one Naruto spoke to about it in the first place.

"Why do you ask?" Naruto questioned carefully, regarding the quiet Uchiha with probing cerulean eyes. The raven-haired man shrugged casually in answer, looking away while gently placing his chopsticks onto the rim of his half empty ramen bowl.

"You just seem… a lot more… well, not affectionate but… almost friendly with it now…" Sasuke trailed off as he met his companion's gaze, silenced by the large amount of amusement now swimming in the deep blue of his eyes. "What? What's so funny?"

Naruto fought back his laughter as Sasuke all but puffed up in indignation at the thought of being made fun of, somehow managing to contain his amusement to a large grin. "Nothing, nothing. You just sound so shy and un-Uchiha-like right now." The blond chortled quietly as Sasuke glared viciously at him.

"To answer your question, yeah, me'n Kyuubi talk sometimes. He's not that bad actually, just cranky from being confined all the time, but hey, _you're_ like that so I have _tons _of experience." Naruto dodged Sasuke's punch with a loud cackle of mirth, sliding off his stool and darting away from the stand. "Don't forget! You said you'd pay for me!"

The hyperactive man was about to take off when a familiar voice called out his name, stopping him in his tracks and causing him to turn around inquisitively. A grin brightened his features when he recognized the vibrant blue hair and shy stance of the girl walking towards him, and he waved enthusiastically.

"Hinata-chaaaan!" The Hyuuga heiress blushed lightly at having so much of the blonde's attention, but matched his grin and waved back as she approached him. She had long ago given up on her crush, having finally realized the strange relationship that the blond shared with the Uchiha, and had found it much easier to talk to him now. Besides, it was a certain _other_ loudmouth who was occupying most of her thoughts these days. Shaking herself from her thoughts, she noticed Naruto observing her curiously and coughed in embarrassment.

"N-Naruto-kun. How are you?" she stammered softly, fidgeting self-consciously with the hem of her jacket. Naruto, used to her bashful attitude, beamed at her and swung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders who had just joined them after paying for their meals. The raven-haired man scowled in irritation as the blond proceeded to lean heavily on him, but made no other move to push him off.

"Great! Me'n Sasuke just finished eating and I'm about to head home and look at this new technique scroll that Ero-sennin gave to me!" He paused, glancing over at Sasuke who was staring off into space. "And I'm sure Sasuke's planning to indulge his inner pervert and head over to the hot springs to peek at some of the girls in the locker rooms."

Snapping back to attention at Naruto's words and Hinata's soft giggles, Sasuke glowered at the blond and punched him off of his shoulders. "Don't make me swat your face off with a kunai, Usurotonkachi."

Naruto smirked before leaning in close, ignoring Sasuke as he stiffened uncomfortably at the breach on his personal space. Trailing his fingers sensually down the brunette's cheek, Naruto locked his shimmering blue eyes with glazing over onyx ones before bending even closer to breathe softly against Sasuke's ear.

"Aw, Sasuke… I know you'd so rather swat _my_ kunai…" he purred suggestively, pausing dramatically before abruptly pulling back with a wink and turning his attention back to a stupefied and blushing Hinata. "So what brings you here, Hinata-chan?"

Sasuke fought to calm his racing heart and keep his cool composure intact, taking even breaths as he half listened to the Hyuuga and the blond talk. Damn that Naruto for doing this to him! It was bad enough that he didn't understand the change that was slowly but surely enveloping their relationship, but that stupid blond had to make it worse by crossing over the border every time he thought he had it under control.

"Sasuke?"

Realizing that he was being spoken to, Sasuke looked up and met the blonde's eyes with what he hoped was a level gaze. "What?"

Naruto cocked his head in concerned confusion; Sasuke seemed to be zoning out more than usual today, maybe he was sick? "Uh… did you hear what Hinata-chan said?"

Sasuke glanced around and was surprised to see that he had missed the departure of the shy woman. It was rare that things like that escaped his notice. "No," he replied shortly, making it sound as if Hinata was at fault for his inattention.

"Oh…" Naruto frowned slightly before explaining. "Well she said that Tsunade-baba told us to go see her for a new mission briefing of some sort."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. Another mission so soon? "Right now?"

"Yeah… Oi, Sasuke, are you sure you're okay?"

Sasuke, catching the concern in the blonde's eyes, smiled softly before knocking his shoulder lightly against the other man's. "Of course, Dobe. Let's go."

Satisfied with his answer, Naruto nodded eagerly before racing ahead of the brunette. "Race you to the tower!"

Sasuke smirked before taking off after the Kyuubi-holder, the two of them darting towards the center of the village and their new mission.

* * *

**AN:** Hope you all liked it and please review if you can! It seriously motivates me to update faster. Oh and on a side note, the whole "swat my kunai" thing was inspired by and written for my beta, Notori-chan! Take care everyone and Happy New Year! 


	3. The Tantrum

A/N: I know, I know, I've taken WAAAAAAAY too long to post this chapter, but please PLEASE don't kill me! I know it's not an excuse but I lent my brother my laptop (which had the beginning to this chapter on it) last December and then he upped and moved to California. Taking it with him. I asked him to send it to me but he was a lazy ass and didn't want to look through my files for it and I really didn't want to start over cuz I kind of really liked the beginning and thus, no update for a loooong time. But yes, he came back for Canadian Thanksgiving and I've been working to finish it and post it up and now, here it is!

I have to be honest and say that my main priority right now, is my Twilight fanfic "Love Story" so I don't know when the next update will be. I'll try for a week or two but I can't promise anything. Thank you guys soo much for the reviews! I feel so much more motivated to write when I get reviews and who knows, I might put THIS story as my first priority if I get a lot of reviews. My other story isn't getting that many but I've never been great with the whole first person POV so I can see why (ehehehe...). Anyways, I'll stop rambling now and let you guys read. Sorry once again and I promise I'll make it up to you guys!

**Summary: **Years after his return from his quest to find his brother, Sasuke is once again best friends with Naruto but now they have matured, grown up and become members of the elite ANBU. Now, the two struggle to find a way to balance their changing relationship and the demanding lifestyle of being ANBU. Sasu/Naru.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and blah blah blah.

* * *

**Porcelain Masks**

**Chapter 3: The Tantrum **

* * *

Upon entering the briefing room, Naruto was mildly surprised to see so many of his fellow ANBU lounging in various positions around him. It was rare that more than four ANBU—a full squad—were assigned to the same mission at a time. Glancing around, Naruto was pleased to realize that all of the people in the room were his close friends and he cheerfully loped over to where Kiba was waving frantically beside Shino, Neji and a bored looking Akamaru.

"Oi, oi, Naruto!"

Sasuke entered at a more sedate pace than his blond companion, quickly taking note of the four other people—and canine—already there before leaning casually against the far wall. Ignoring the loud chattering of Naruto and Kiba as they pestered their captain about the mission, the Uchiha settled down and waited for the Godaime to arrive.

"Tch. You people are so loud," Shikamaru complained from his sprawled out position on the floor, stifling a yawn as he propped his head up with his hand. "Leave Neji alone and wait for the Hokage to explain. That _is_ what a briefing is for, y'know?"

The Hyuuga captain shot the lazy man a look of gratitude as the two loudmouths fell into a sulky silence, allowing the room to become engulfed in a calm, quietness. Suddenly, the door creaked open, causing all six shinobi to glance at the entrance to the room curiously. Striding proudly into the room, Sai flashed his fake smile to its occupants before cocking his head to the side and closing his eyes in forced pleasantness.

"Hello, everybody." Naruto was the only one who returned the greeting with an enthusiastic "Yo!"; Sasuke glowered, Kiba glanced between the two look-alikes, Neji nodded, Shikamaru frowned and Shino pushed his sliding sunglasses back into place. Paying no heed to the rest of the room, Sai walked up to the bright blond and gave him a sincere smile.

"Hey, Sai! You're on the mission too?" Naruto pretended that he didn't notice the tension between his two close friends, choosing instead to grin excitedly at the man in front of him. When Sai nodded in agreement, the blond could barely contain his eagerness.

"It's been forever since I've been on a mission with all of you guys!" he cheered loudly, pumping a fist in the air animatedly. "Usually it's just me and Sasuke! This must mean it's a really important mission!"

"Obviously it's an important mission if _Neji's_ on it," muttered Shikamaru in exasperation, rolling his eyes at his rather dense companion. "ANBU captains don't just go on any old missions, you know." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the man immaturely before crossing his arms over his chest and turning his back on him with a loud "humph!".

Used to the blonde's childish displays, the other men did little more than smirk in amusement at such a typical Naruto response. Kiba grinned slyly and caught Naruto's attention with a rather unexpected question.

"Ne, Naruto? How come you and Sasuke aren't in uniform?" Kiba's smirk widened as the rest of the shinobi turned to peer at Naruto curiously as if just now realizing that he wasn't adorned in ANBU or Jounin regalia. Sasuke frowned suspiciously as Naruto blinked in surprise, wondering where the dog lover was heading with such a random question.

"We were sparring and we didn't have time to go home and change…" Naruto answered slowly, somewhat puzzled. Sure, it was suggested that ANBU wore their uniforms to mission briefings (or their Jounin ones if they didn't feel like wearing their masks), but it wasn't a rule or anything… Was it?

"_Sparring_, eh?" Kiba waggled his eyebrows suggestively at his blond friend as he grinned toothily. "Is _that_ why you guys look so… _bed_raggled?"

"Uh… yeah?" Two blond eyebrows furrowed together as Sasuke coughed and the rest of the room—except for Shino—snorted loudly. Now thoroughly confused, Naruto scratched the back of his head as he looked from the cackling Kiba to the smirking Neji and Shikamaru. Turning to ask Sasuke what just happened, he was surprised to see that the normally emotionless expression of his best friend was now sporting a rather prominent blush. And then it hit him.

"Ugh, Kiba! Not like _that_!" Naruto thwacked the Inuzuka hard over the head, blushing furiously and unable to meet Sasuke's eyes. Kiba, still chuckling, opened his mouth to comment but was cut off as the door opened again, revealing an irritated looking Hokage and a flustered Sakura. The blonde woman all but stomped into the room, glaring rather viciously at nothing in particular while Sakura followed meekly behind.

"Oi! Tsunade-baba! What took you so long?!" Everyone winced as Naruto's obnoxious question echoed loudly in the room. Trust Naruto to not notice the Talk-To-Me-And-Die-A-Horrible-Painful-Death vibes that were radiating off the Godaime in thick, almost tangible waves.

Fixing a harsh glare on the blond man, Tsunade strode forward and ground her fist ruthlessly onto the top of his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you?? Don't call me that!!" Ignoring his loud cries of "Itai, itai, itaai!!", Tsunade increased the pressure for a moment longer before releasing the man and turning her scary glare onto the other ANBU in the room. Counting the people and seeing that everyone needed was present, she nodded in satisfaction before opening a folder that Sakura had just handed her.

"It seems that we have a little issue concerning…rats…" As she said this, she pulled out a list from within the folder, ignoring Naruto's pout as he gingerly rubbed his head. "Takanawa Hiro. Deceased. Niroshi Michiko. Detained. Nayuki Hisao. Detained. Aoki Hotaru. Deceased." She looked up and fixed the listening ANBU with a disgruntled stare.

"All the people I just named were Konoha Shinobi of Chunnin or Jounin rank. They were all trialed and convicted of treason." The Hokage paused, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly as shock rippled throughout the occupants of the room. "When questioned under a truth revealing genjutsu, they all confessed to being part of an organization that gathered information about Konoha and sold it to enemy Hidden Villages.

"As ANBU, your main priorities lie with the protection of Konoha and its secrets. While we work to flush out the traitors here in Konoha, you will be sent to cut off the head of this treacherous snake. This organization must be decimated at all costs." She pulled a photo and a map out from the folder. "Here, is a picture of your target, Kanamori Takashi." Handing the picture to Neji, she brandished the map in her other hand and pointed to a marked section in Earth Country just a little pass the Grass and Earth border.

"From what we gathered, here is the main headquarters where he lives and works. He rarely ever leaves it, choosing instead to force his clients to come to him." Trailing a finger along the symbols that represented mountains, Tsunade continued talking. "He uses the terrain to help guard his home, designing it so that mountainous ranges guard it from one side, while endless cliffs border it on the other."

"Begging your pardon, Hokage-sama, but the landscape shouldn't affect us too drastically. We could overcome those obstacles rather easily if we tried," Neji interjected politely, feeling the need to defend the proficiency of his subordinates and friends.

"I _know_ that, Captain!" Tsunade snarled, causing the majority of the room to blink in surprise at her unusually hot temper. Catching the startled glances, the woman breathed deeply in an effort to calm herself before continuing. "Forgive me, Neji. This idiocy has just been taking its toll out on me."

Neji nodded to signify that it was forgotten, allowing the Hokage to resume her explanation. "Yes, I know that mountains and cliffs would not be too much trouble for skilled ANBU like yourselves,"—here Naruto and Kiba grinned cockily while Shikamaru rolled his eyes in exasperation—"and I was pointing out that Kanamori tends to underestimate us shinobi."

Kiba raised an eyebrow questioningly. "If he's the head of an organization that focuses on ninjas, why would he not realize the potential threat that we could lead? At that matter, how is he able to control ninjas when he isn't one himself?"

Tsunade shrugged, somewhat irritated that she was being interrupted again. "From what I deduced, he has a rather persuasive tongue, with a large sum of money to back it up. And he obviously underrated us from the start when he thought that we wouldn't catch on to the traitorous bastards he sent to us." Scowling deeply in displeasure, Tsunade looked down and referred to the map again.

"As I was saying, we can use his ignorance to our advantage. We'll turn his land against him. There are only two paths leading in and out of the headquarters: the Northern Pass and the Southern Pass. Both are guarded rather heavily by military soldiers, but no shinobi, since he considers them good enough for espionage and little else."

You will be divided into two teams; Team A will leave earlier and travel quickly and quietly through the countryside. Once reaching the Earth-Grass border, you will travel along the side of the cliff edge and sneak pass the headquarters itself to set up a trap near the Northern Pass. Team B will follow at a slower, more conspicuous pace, ensuring that Kanamori hears of your arrival beforehand. If all goes according to plan, the bastard will continue to miscalculate us and waste no time in fleeing towards the Northern Pass where Team A will be waiting."

"If he considers shinobi less-than-able warriors, why would he flee in the first place?" Shikamaru questioned dubiously, frowning at the small holes in the plan. "Wouldn't he trust his soldiers and walls to keep us at bay?"

Tsunade smirked wryly. "I _did_ say 'If all goes according to plan.' But nothing ever goes according to plan does it? I'm sure he would need a light bout of persuasion before he deems us dangerous enough to run, but I'm sure that won't be too hard with a bit of your… flashier moves." Here, she glanced at Naruto who grinned proudly at her. She gave him a small smile before putting the map back into the folder and handing it to Neji. "Worse-case scenario: he doesn't run and you have to infiltrate and drag him out. If that happens, regroup. He has at least a company of men located within the walls of his command center and, ANBU or not, it would be wise to think up a strategy before charging in."

The room murmured their understanding and Tsunade nodded in satisfaction before straightening up and clapping her hands together. "Now for the teams." She looked around the room briefly. "Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino and Sasuke will be Team A. Neji, Naruto, Sai and Sakura will be Team B."

Sasuke and Naruto looked up in surprise at hearing that they weren't put on the same team. "What?" Naruto questioned loudly, sure that he had misheard. "Me and Sasuke are on different teams??"

The Hokage frowned, crossing her arms under her large chest as she regarded the two startled ANBU grumpily. "Yeah, so?"

"Naruto and I work best together. It would be in the best interest of the mission if we were placed on the same team." Although Sasuke's tone was polite, there was an underlying hint of stubborn demanding in his voice. The Godaime's frown deepened, but since what Sasuke said wasn't entirely wrong, she took a deep breath to keep from losing her temper.

"No. I need you on Team A for your eyes. With Sharingan, you will be able to detect the movement of anybody approaching," she explained curtly, her voice somewhat strained.

"Switch me with Neji, then. His eyes are more suited than mine for that situation." Sasuke bit his tongue and swallowed his pride briefly as he admitted that the Hyuuga was better than him at something. It was worth it to have Naruto on his team.

"No. Neji's eyes are needed for examining the layout and formation of Kanamori's men. Kiba is on your team to help detect when they come. Plus, Neji is required for strategy on that team."

"Then swi—"

"_No_. The teams have been decided and there will be no _switching_! This isn't a simple _school project_ where you choose your group mates according to comfort and familiarity. This is an _A-ranked mission_ where teams are assigned depending on level of convenience and adequacy." Tsunade's eyes flashed angrily and she clenched her fist tightly to keep from smashing it into the insufferable man's face. "If you have a problem with that, Uchiha, I suggest you go back to the _Academy_, where they would probably be more willing to meet your demands."

Not missing the threat laced within the Hokage's reprimand, Sasuke frowned unhappily but submitted with a soft "Hn," before sulking in the corner of the room like a scolded child. Badly muffled snickers erupted from a thoroughly amused Kiba and Sasuke shot him a vicious glare that instantly shut him up. The Uchiha's dark eyes roved around the room, daring anyone else to comment and risk losing a lung or two to a chidori. Satisfied when no one met his gaze, he turned back to his brooding.

Seeing that nobody else was planning on challenging her directions anymore (Naruto pouted but didn't say anything out loud), Tsunade tersely wrapped up the mission briefing. "Shikamaru is leader of Team A, but will answer ultimately to Captain Neji, who will be Mission Leader as well as leader of Team B. Team Shikamaru leaves tonight at midnight, while Team Neji leaves tomorrow afternoon. Dismissed."

Almost immediately, the majority of the ANBU disappeared out the window to prepare for the mission, leaving behind an irritable Hokage, a fidgeting jinchuuriki and a curious Sakura.

"What do you want, Gaki? I don't have time for any of your whining or nonsense," Tsunade growled, glaring at the other blond.

For once, Naruto let the "gaki" slide and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well actually, I just wanted to know why you didn't put me and Sasuke on the same team. Cuz, well, we _do_ work really well together and uh, we're _always_ on the same team. So, yeah… I was just curious…" he trailed off somewhat nervously, not wanting to feel the brunt of a fully angered Tsunade.

"Things _change_," she snapped before visibly forcing herself to calm down. It wasn't Naruto's fault that this whole fiasco was occurring, and it wasn't fair of her to take it all out on him despite how easy he made it. She pinched the bridge of her nose and slowly counted backwards from 10, before looking up to address the man with a more civil tone.

"Look, I _know_ you and Uchiha have great teamwork skills and that I've always put you two together for efficiency's sake, but it's time that you start learning to work just as fluidly with other ninja. Especially Uchiha. He has a habit of disregarding the rest of the shinobi almost completely." She gathered up the bundle of files in Sakura's hands and began to leave the room. "I meant what I said before: things _do_ change."

Naruto and Sakura watched her leave silently, both pondering the weight of her words. Finally, Sakura turned to the blond with a small smile.

"Don't worry about Sasuke too much; he's a big boy and he'll get along fine with the rest of his team," she reassured gently, her green eyes warm as they locked with his azure ones.

The Kyuubi-container blinked before grinning broadly at his teammate. "Ha! Me? Worried about _Sasuke_? As if! I'm more worried about the _rest of them_. They'll be stuck with Mr. Sour Puss for the entire duration of a mission!" He paused, breaking eye contact with the pinkette to look out the window. "It's just… this will be the first mission I've been on without Sasuke since he came back…"

Sakura always found it somewhat disconcerting to hear such a somber tone coming from Naruto, but pushed the feeling aside. "It'll be fine, Naruto. Trust me."

"I do, Sakura, I do trust you." Not missing the lack of honorific, Sakura smiled softly and gave him a brief hug.

"Good. Now, I'm going to go pack my things and you should too. Remember what Tsunade-sama said! 'Things change' and I'm sure Sasuke will adapt to his teammates." With a small wave, the pink haired girl slid out of the room and darted off to prepare for the mission.

Naruto, uncharacteristically solemn, frowned at the wall as Tsunade's and Sakura's words echoed in his mind. "Change…"

Fighting back disappointment and mild anger, Sasuke sulkily packed his bag in sharp, methodic movements. A portion of his mental voice nagged that he was being unreasonably immature and that he should search for his missing Uchiha pride ASAP instead of outwardly pouting over such a childish thing. The rest of it threw an explosive tantrum at the very thought of being apart from the blond for so long; they hadn't been separated for more than a couple of days at a time since his return to Konoha almost six years back.

* * *

Sighing in annoyance, Sasuke buckled up the small rucksack and dropped it by the front door before sinking tiredly into his armchair. That was something that confused him a bit. He may not have been an expert on friendship and relationships, but even _he_ knew that there was something a tad _off_ about the way he acted, thought and felt towards the dumb dobe. Were best friends—even the _closest _of them—_supposed_ to feel _this_ cheated when divided into different teams? Were they supposed to feel utterly betrayed when the other showed even the slightest hint of attraction towards another person? Were they supposed to be irrationally angry at others who flirted with them, jokingly or not? It just didn't make any sense to the Uchiha.

What made it even worse was the undeniable physical attraction he felt for his blond friend. As embarrassing as it was to admit it, the Uchiha had caught himself numerous times just staring at the idiot when he shouldn't be. Like watching the glistening sweat drops trickling over defined muscles as they sparred; or gazing at a well-built chest when the Kyuubi-container practiced his habit of answering his door shirtless; or even at night when he woke with a start, flashes of tan, yellow and blue in his mind's eyes and a sticky mess in his boxers.

At first, he blamed it on teenage hormones that were overcompensating for coming in so late. And they focused on Naruto because he was always there; he was there in the morning when they did their routine sparring, he was there in the afternoon when they went on the occasional mission and most of the time, he was even there in the evening when they shared dinner together after a long day. Of _course_ Naruto was the focus of his hormones: there was no one else _there_ to be a possible candidate.

But then, after a while, Sasuke had found himself actually looking forward to the dreams at night. He found himself anticipating that small part of the day where he could give in to his desires and let the purring sex god do whatever he wished to his compliant self. And that was when he began to realize that something was different about his and Naruto's relationship.

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts as his senses picked up Naruto's chakra signal moments before the blond himself swung in through the open window.

"Sasuke."

"Dobe." The two ANBU stared at each other silently for a long moment and Sasuke frowned nervously at the uncharacteristic somberness of the blond. Abruptly—so abruptly that Sasuke actually started—Naruto grinned and perched himself on the arm of the sofa Sasuke was sitting in.

"Oi, oi, are you ready yet?" Sasuke didn't bother to answer, choosing instead to give his best friend a deadpanned stare. Naruto chuckled uneasily—Sasuke's first sign that something was bothering him—and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right, right. When is Uchiha Sasuke _not_ ready?"

The Uchiha sighed quietly and fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Just spit it out, Naruto."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned loudly, the words sounding fake even to his own ears. Sasuke huffed and stood up, walking over to his pack and swinging it onto his shoulder.

"If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving," Sasuke bluffed, keeping his back to Naruto as he twisted the doorknob.

"Wait!" The brunette couldn't help but smirk and turned to face the blond with a raised eyebrow. Naruto fidgeted for another silent moment, his eyes burning a hole in the floor as Sasuke waited none too patiently.

"Be safe, kay?" Naruto finally blurted out. Sasuke blinked at the rather unexpected request.

"Hn. You should be worried about yourself, Dobe," he replied coolly, though he smiled softly to let Naruto know he was joking. "I won't be there to save you when you mess up, this time."

Naruto nodded and grinned. "I'd hate to find a new sparring partner, so be sure you come back in one piece." The words were overly corny but the blond didn't care right now. Sasuke snorted in response but nodded also.

"Likewise."

The silence returned as Sasuke turned off all the lights and locked all the windows in preparation to leave for the mission. It was rather pointless, seeing as how they lived in a ninja village and mere locks would not hinder even the worst ninja for long, but Sasuke did it out of habit. A definite routine in his otherwise sporadic life. Either way, he had no real valuables in his home so he could really care less if something was stolen.

Sasuke threw a dark, hooded cloak over his ANBU uniform and together, the two stepped out of the old house and walked noiselessly to the designated meeting point. As they approached the little-used Western Gate, they could just make out the cloaked shadows of Team Shikamaru—and the hulking form of Akamaru—waiting for Sasuke in the darkness.

The Uchiha frowned at the reminder that Naruto would not be in his team and, ignoring the part of his Uchiha pride that scolded him for acting like a spoiled child, grumbled softly under his breath.

Naruto, catching the reason of Sasuke's sudden surliness, stretched out and patted his best friend on the shoulder.

"Give them a chance, Sasuke." The brunette didn't respond as they reached the waiting group. He nodded stiffly in their general direction and they all nodded back at him before greeting Naruto warmly though quietly.

After a few exchanges of "good lucks" and promises to meet up later, they waved goodbye to the Kyuubi-container and started to head out. Sasuke lingered behind for a moment and was awarded with a brilliant smile from Naruto.

"Good luck, Sasuke! I'll see you soon!" The blond's words were bright and cheerful and Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the tone. He nodded one last time and slipped his wolf-shaped ANBU mask on before sprinting off with the rest of Team A.

* * *

A/N: I hoped you guys liked it! Please, please PLEASE review! It makes me soo happy when you do and I really need a dosage of that right now! Love you all and stay tuned for my next update!


	4. The Mission

A/N: I'm not even gonna bother trying to rationalize my horribleness :P Have fun reading this next chapter and please review! Oh, Thanks to Inuzuka Notori for being an awesome beta! Love you lots!

**Summary: **Years after Itachi's death, Sasuke and Naruto are once again best friends but have grown up and become elite ninja. Now, the two struggle to find a way to balance their changing relationship and the demanding lifestyle of being ANBU. SasuNaru AUish (AU from chapter 365 of the manga).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto and blah blah blah.

* * *

**Porcelain Masks**

**Chapter 4: The Mission**

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"Oi, Uchiha!"

Sasuke shortened his pace, waiting impatiently for Shikamaru to catch up and run alongside him. He kept his eyes forward, his Sharingan busily detecting loose gravel and weak points in the cliff wall that they were running on which he carefully guided the team around. Although rockslides weren't uncommon in this area, setting one off could raise unnecessary suspicion when they could avoid it altogether.

The rain pelting down on them was both a blessing and a curse. Although it erased any tracks that they may have left behind, it also caused the packed dirt underneath their sandals to melt into slippery mud that was awkward to maneuver on despite the constant flow of chakra that glued them to the surface.

Sasuke found that it was more bothersome than anything else, since he was feeling disoriented from having the rain hit him sideways. Add to that the limited vision caused by the blinding sheets of water and he was ready to curse all belief of a higher being to hell.

"We're making camp," Shikamaru ordered, his voice muffled by the incessant pounding of the rain. "Shino's bugs found a cave just a bit ahead."

Sasuke grunted to convey his understanding and allowed Shino to overtake him and lead them to their shelter for the night. _More like day_, he thought with a sigh, eyeing the slowly brightening color of the sky. They had been running nonstop for more than 24 hours now, and he could feel the toll on his body despite his extensive stamina.

Swinging into a well-hidden opening in the rock behind Shino and Shikamaru, he trotted silently over to the back wall and slipped into a dripping pile on the ground. Kiba soon entered the cave with Akamaru, who barely managed to squeeze passed the opening, instantly making the rather spacious area turn into a cramped, uncomfortable squeeze.

The distinct smell of soaked cotton and wet dog permeated the air and the Uchiha stifled a sneeze.

"Shit, it's _pouring_ out there!" Kiba grumbled sourly, whipping off his mask and tying it securely to his belt. Sasuke felt a pang of sympathy for the Inuzuka: he relied strongly on his senses of smell and hearing so it must have been hell for him and Akamaru to travel in the rain.

Removing his own mask, he stood and gestured lightly at his previous spot, meeting the Inuzuka's gaze briefly. Kiba blinked in surprised before grinning in gratitude.

"Thanks, Uchiha!" Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement, his face as blank as ever, and watched as the giant dog crawled to the back wall and curled up along it, freeing up a lot of space. Kiba joined his companion, pulling a towel from his pack and rubbing furiously at the dog's long fur.

Sasuke pulled off his soaked cloak, draping it over some rocks to dry before sinking back into a seated position. Stretching one leg out in front of him and resting his elbow on the other one which was bent at the knee, he settled into the cold stone for some semblance of rest.

Shikamaru remained standing at the entrance of the little cave, dropping his pack to the ground before half turning to face the other ANBU.

"I'll take first watch. Shino will take second. The rest of you get 6 hours to eat, sleep, whatever." He paused momentarily before continuing. "Make sure to get your chakra level up, Uchiha. We're gonna need you to keep a genjutsu over us later on." Shikamaru waited for Sasuke to nod before disappearing outside into the rain.

Sasuke fought the urge to scoff at the Nara's words. Even with his _current_ chakra level, he could probably weave and maintain a highly complex genjutsu for a few hours before feeling any sort of strain. A mere blending-in genjutsu, even over a long distance and timeframe, would be nothing compared to some of the things he had to deal with in the past.

Nonetheless, orders were orders and Sasuke closed his eyes and encouraged all the tension in his muscles to seep out. Taking deep, even breaths, the Uchiha cleared his mind and entered a mild meditative state.

Directly across from him, Shino sat motionlessly, probably taking the time to rest before having to stand watch. Kiba was whispering softly to Akamaru as they ate, his voice incomprehensible over the ever constant pattering of the rain.

If he were to be honest, Sasuke would say that the silence and privacy was a bit unnerving. He was so used to the loud, obtrusive company of Naruto that he felt oddly uncomfortable without it. Though he would never admit to it of course.

Sighing silently, Sasuke forced any thoughts of the hyperactive blond away and resigned himself to the quiet peacefulness.

* * *

Three men sprawled around a crackling fire, the metal of their armor reflecting the lights into shimmering patterns that danced around the clearing. They laughed loudly as they took turns exchanging old anecdotes, careless and lazy after gorging themselves on a freshly cooked boar.

A loud clattering among the bushes caused them to fall silent and swivel their heads towards the direction of the sound. A moment later, a dirt-streaked young soldier emerged from the foliage, looking frantic and panicked as he ran up to one of the lounging men.

"Sir, I just spotted Konoha ANBU heading towards the fort!" he panted, heaving in an attempt to catch his breath. The other two men stiffened in alarm but relaxed as their Scout Leader fell into a fit of laughter.

"Calm yourself, Aburai!" the man guffawed. "This area is chosen purposefully for training scouts like yourself. No one smart enough to be considered dangerous would even think of passing through here."

"But sir! I saw them! One of them even _waved_ at me!" the scout retorted, his voice a mix of awe and terror.

"Enough!" the leader snapped irately, his good mood vanishing at the young man's insubordination. "If they were _ANBU_ do you think you would have spotted them?"

"B-but!"

"Silence! I've had enough of your rambling for tonight. Go back to your post!"

"Yes, sir!" The scout saluted the leader and was about to return to his post when a loud thud of feet on wood made him spin around quickly. There, standing very visibly on a low branch were four strangely garbed people.

They had painted porcelain masks tied to their faces and dark cloaks hanging loosely behind them. The one with a frog-shaped mask and bright blond hair wiggled his fingers in a mocking wave and the much shorter one standing beside him elbowed him noticeably. Although her face was hidden by a cat-shaped mask, Aburai could tell that this one was a woman; her white, fitted armor hinted at curves while her overall figure was smaller and more delicate-looking than the rest of them.

A stream of curses followed by the sound of clattering armor echoed through the clearing as the soldiers struggled to stand and draw their weapons. By the time they had gotten to their feet, the four ANBU had already disappeared into the foliage, leaving behind a group of bewildered and alarmed soldiers.

* * *

"Urgh, I can't take anymore of this snail-paced travel!" Naruto whined as they detoured once again so they would pass through yet another encampment. They had left Konoha two days ago and—due to their extremely slow pace—still had about half a day's travel left before reaching Kanamori's fort, making Naruto's tiny well of patience all but dry up. "I swear, even as a _genin_, I could've made it there and back in this amount of time!"

"You were hardly ever considered a _normal_ genin," Sai commented wryly. "It was a compliment, Naruto-kun," he added when said man opened his mouth to retort.

"Oh. But seriously, do we _have_ to pass by _every_ scout camp on our way there?" The question was directed towards the captain who didn't answer

"Hyuuga-taichou, I agree with Naruto on this one," Sakura piped up, gracefully leaping from branch to branch. "Aren't we being a bit obvious?"

Neji sighed wearily; oh, the things he was forced to endure as ANBU Captain. "I have my reasons," he said, pouring all the authority he could into his voice. "And I don't want to hear another word of complaint, understood?"

"Hai, Taichou!" the three chorused simultaneously before falling silent. For a bit.

"Betcha two-thousand yen (~$20) that the next scout'll piss his pants the minute he sees us!"

"Three-thousand. (~$30) These men _are_ trained soldiers, Naruto, not terrified rabbits."

"I'm afraid I'll have to side with Naruto-kun on this one."

"You _always_ side with Naruto, Sai. But, hey, I'm gonna be six-thousand yen richer by the end of tonight so I'm not complaining!"

"Ha! You wish! Neji, you want in?"

Neji sighed again, shaking his head in answer to Naruto's question. He really needed to ask for a raise.

* * *

The sun was just breaking over the horizon when they attacked.

Racing through the Southern Pass, the four masked ANBU incapacitated soldiers when they could, and killed when they had no other choice. The thud of heavily armored men hitting the ground sounded in their wake as they made quick progress through the narrow passageway.

Once they reached the end of the Pass and sped along the bare ground between the Pass and the actual fort, they became the targets for over fifty awaiting archers that stood on the ramparts of the Outer Wall.

A loud order was cried and the deafening twang of dozens of releasing bowstrings echoed in the still dawn air, followed closely by the whistling of rapidly traveling arrows. The sky was temporarily blocked out by the cloud of sharp projectiles that rained down ominously on the four approaching figures.

Barely breaking pace, the ANBU easily dodged all the arrows and continued their journey towards the fort. A cry of alarm spread through the soldiers but was quickly silenced by another bellowing order. The thunderous clunking of the portcullis being raised proceeded the earth rumbling roar of several cantering hoof beats as two squads of cavalry charged at the ninjas.

One of the masked shinobi paused mid-run, kneeling in the soft soil and reaching into a side pouch to pull out what looked like a scroll and ink brush. With a flourish, he threw open the scroll and scribbled quickly on it before performing a hand seal.

"Ninpou: Choujuu Giga!"

With a petrifying snarl, the ink beasts sprung forth from the parchment and pounced on the horsemen. Terrified, the horses broke formation and galloped back towards the castle, not caring if they flung the riders off their backs in the process. The remaining soldiers barely had time to grip their weapons before being knocked unconscious by the leader of the attacking ANBU.

By this time, the archers had continued their assault and with an annoyed sigh, the blond ninja formed a hand seal that he had done possibly a billion times before.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Several clouds of smoke puffed into existence and were blown away by the wind, leaving behind a scary amount of clones. Mostly, they acted as a distraction for the archers to aim at as the real ninjas closed in around the fort.

The pink-haired one reached the wall first and with a mighty cry, swung back and struck the wall. Instantly, the stone underneath her knuckles crumbled outwards in a large radius, and she pulled back and threw another powerful punch that caused an entire portion of the Outer Wall to collapse completely.

She darted out of the way just in time to avoid falling chunks of rock and soldiers before whizzing over the debris and towards the Inner Wall alongside Naruto—or at least one of his clones; she could never really tell.

Sakura's question was answered when a clone scurried up beside them and rapidly spun a Rasengan into existence in Naruto's waiting palm. Despite the mask covering his face, she could practically see the smug smirk on his lips as he turned and thrust the whirling ball of chakra into the midst of the company of soldiers that had rushed them once they passed the Outer Wall.

A multitude of them were sent flying backwards in a flurry of armor and swords, and the rest were attacked by more of the clones. Seeing that Naruto was fine for now, Sakura returned to her mission of breaking through the Inner Wall.

Deftly weaving passed a barrage of arrows, Neji landed lightly beside a calm Sai who continued to gracefully sketch out endless creatures to bombard the soldiers. The man nodded politely to the ANBU captain before turning back to his strange ninjutsu. Neji returned the sign of acknowledgement before concentrating on his own task, trusting that his subordinate would watch his back during his distracted state.

Focusing his bloodline-limit, the Hyuuga quickly zoomed through the thick stone of the Outer Wall, briefly noting the dozens of Naruto clones darting about and the explosive bursts of chakra as Sakura strategically crumbled bits of the Inner Wall. Searching quickly for Kanamori, he found him sprawled out peacefully on what seemed to be a throne of some sort.

His chakra signal was relatively weak, showing that he was a person who didn't exercise his chakra at all. Definitely not a ninja. Scattered around him, though, were bright flares signaling that he had taken a few shinobi as guards. At least he wasn't entirely stupid. But from the looks of things, he was barely ruffled at the current invasion, and would probably not flee.

Having gathered the necessary information, Neji released his concentration on his Byakugan and allowed his vision to return to his immediate vicinity.

"Plan B," he stated sharply to Sai. The man nodded in understanding and Neji could almost see the fake smile spread across his lips, despite the lion-shaped mask on his face. Looking up, the Hyuuga managed to just catch all of Sai's beasts dissolving into puddles of ink.

Not long afterwards, the loud pops and fading chakra signals of Naruto dispelling his clones showed that Naruto and Sakura had gotten the hint and were now retreating. The two raced over the rubble that was once the Outer Wall amid cheers of triumph from the soldiers still standing, and rejoined their team.

Together, Team Neji darted over the edge of the cliff and landed with soft thumps on a large slate of rock that jutted out from the cliff side 40 meters down.

"Yes! I was hoping we would be able to do Plan B!" Naruto cried excitedly, his voice slightly muffled by his mask but still relatively loud.

"Shush!" Sakura hissed, bopping the blond lightly on the head. Naruto hmphed in return and crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child. Neji ignored the familiar exchange, fighting the desire to roll his eyes even though no one would be able to see if he did.

"Naruto, send a messenger to Team Shikamaru. Tell them that we need to regroup for Plan B and have your messenger lead them along the cliff to where we are. Quickly."

Naruto nodded in compliance and summoned a clone. The clone saluted Neji exaggeratedly before transforming into a small, fast falcon that was common in these areas and taking flight. The falcon-Naruto rapidly disappeared in the growing mist, soaring towards the Northern Pass.

"So…" Naruto began, restlessly hopping on the balls of his feet. "What do we do now?"

Both Sakura and Sai turned to look at him also and Neji gracefully sank into a sitting position.

"We wait," he answered softly, mentally cringing at the overused, cliché line.

* * *

Sasuke sighed silently from his perch on a large boulder, unnoticeable to the untrained eye due to the simple genjutsu he had weaved around himself. Hidden amongst the rocky terrain below him, Kiba was sprawled out on a giant Akamaru, dozing lightly. Shikamaru was meditating beside them and Shino was standing silently on a smaller boulder. He had a constant flow of scouting bugs communicating with him, alerting him of any suspicious movement within a mile radius.

Suddenly, he twitched and Akamaru barked softly at the same time. Kiba sat up with a stretch and scratched his head lazily.

"Naruto's heading this way, fast," he alerted them, cracking his back loudly. "From the sky it seems."

Shikamaru inclined his head to show that he had heard, not bothering to open his eyes or say anything. Sasuke scanned the skies with his Sharingan and saw a quickly approaching bird. Although it had been well hidden, he could still sense a hint of Naruto's familiar chakra within the falcon and he allowed a small smile to cross his lips behind his mask.

The bird landed clumsily on Sasuke's boulder with an undignified thump and almost immediately poofed into a bouncing Naruto.

"Kana-what's-his-face ain't moving!" he crowed loudly. "Neji says to initiate Plan B."

Kiba let out a whoop at the news while Shikamaru sighed exaggeratedly. Getting to his feet, the lazy ANBU stretched and loosened up his tense muscles.

"As expected, Kanamori continues to underestimate us," he drawled lethargically. "How troublesome."

"You're so lazy, Shikamaru!" Kiba retorted noisily. "It's so much more fun this way!" Shikamaru didn't bother to respond, motioning for Naruto to lead the way.

Naruto obliged and led the group back to the cliff where they used chakra to stick to the side and run along the wall. While they ran, Naruto filled them in on what happened so far.

"Naruto, you're so lucky! Me and Akamaru were stuck sitting there for_ever_ with these lumps of wood as company while _you_ got to hit things! You had all the fun! All we got to do was dispatch the men at the Northern Pass but even _that_ took about five minutes!" Naruto laughed with Kiba but soon sped up to run alongside the Uchiha.

They traveled in silence for a few minutes when suddenly, something furry and catlike bounded onto Sasuke's shoulder and curled itself around the back of his neck. Sasuke jumped and almost speared the creature with a kunai but quickly realized it was just Naruto's clone transformed into a small fox.

"What are you doing, Dobe?"

The chakra that Naruto was using to cling to Sasuke's neck tingled and tickled slightly and the Uchiha fought back the urge to fidget. It didn't help that the fox's fur was rather soft and sent shivers down his back every time it brushed against his skin.

"I'm tired from flying," the fox answered, his voice a little higher in pitch than Naruto's usual voice.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow dubiously from behind his mask. Uzumaki Naruto, Mr. Infinite Stamina himself, tired after such an insignificant thing? Kind of hard to believe…

"Rather ironic, don't you think?" Sasuke murmured after a beat of silence.

"What is?"

"That you took the form of a _fox,_ of all things."

"Never realized you had such an issue with Kyuubi."

"I don't. _You_ used to, though."

The fox reached up and nipped playfully at Sasuke's ear. "'Used to' being the key phrase. I told you already; I've grown rather fond of the grumpy ass."

"Hn. Bite me again and I'll skin you alive."

With a deliberate movement, he closed his little teeth around the Uchiha's earlobe, applying a bit of pressure and tugging lightly before releasing and burrowing his cold nose into Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, forcing his breaths to remain even as he fought to keep the strange tremors coursing through his body from showing on the outside. By the time he opened his eyes, they were directly above where the real Naruto, Sakura, Neji and the wannabe were sitting.

Ignoring the fox's muffled snickering, Sasuke released the chakra from his feet and landed lithely beside the blond who was fidgeting with impatient energy. Shikamaru and Shino dropped down between Sakura and Neji while Kiba remained perched on Akamaru who decided to keep clinging to the cliff to preserve space.

While Shikamaru reported to Neji, Naruto looked up at Sasuke, patting the rock beside him in an invitation for him to sit. The Uchiha sat without hesitation and could feel a content smile creeping onto his lips.

"Oi, Sasuke, good to see your grumpy ass again," Naruto said, and Sasuke could hear the grin in his voice. The Uchiha merely nodded in answer but Naruto was satisfied and returned to his restless twitching. _'Grumpy ass', that's the second time I've heard that phrase today, _Sasuke idly mused, reaching up with an absentminded hand to pet the now silent fox around his neck.

The abrupt silence caused Sasuke to break out of his thoughts and look around curiously. Neji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai and Shino were all staring at him blankly while Naruto shook with suppressed laughter. Kiba appeared to have fallen asleep on Akamaru's back, but quickly jolted awake at the sudden lack of sound.

"Wah? Why are we all staring at Uchiha?" he asked groggily, stifling a yawn.

At Kiba's words, Naruto's amusement was too much to handle and he burst out in a fit of loud cackles. Sasuke frowned in offense and kicked the blond none too gently with the heel of his foot.

"O-ow!" the blond gasped around his laughter, clutching onto his stomach and rocking slightly as tears of mirth slid down his cheeks. "Te-teme!"

"Uchiha," Neji asked calmly, ignoring Naruto. "Why is there a…_fox_ around your neck…?"

Sasuke was going to reply with a "Hn" but was interrupted by Kiba's obnoxious voice.

"That ain't just _any_ fox," he said slyly, a fang peeking out from his smirk. "That's _Naruto's clone_ in the form of a fox."

There was a moment of silence—except for Naruto's continuous hooting of course—in which Sasuke half-wished that Itachi had just killed him so that he wouldn't have to deal with all this.

"Oh," was Neji's reply before he turned to the still laughing blond. "Naruto, you may dispel your clone now. I don't want it distracting us any further."

With a small "Pop!" and a cloud of smoke, the laughing Naruto disappeared, leaving a ringing silence in his wake. For a brief second, they all blinked in surprise before the fox uncurled itself from around Sasuke's neck and leapt gracefully to the ground. He stretched adorably, baring his tiny fangs in a jaw-cracking yawn before transforming back into his true form.

"Gotcha!" Naruto crowed noisily, grinning smugly from behind his mask. He sidled up against Sasuke and imitated nuzzling him like a cat would, ignoring the man's stiffening. "Didn't know you had a soft spot for furry things, Sas-_ke_," he simpered, basking in the appreciative chuckles from his teammates. "If I'da known before, I would've set you and Fuzzy Brows up ages ago!"

Overlooking the fluttering that restarted in his stomach at the knowledge that it was the real Naruto who had curled up against his neck, Sasuke pulled back his fist and punched him hard on the head. Naruto recoiled with a cry of pain, clutching his pounding head then cried out again when Sakura hit him in the exact same place.

"Ow! What is with all the abuse?" the blond yelled melodramatically, gingerly fingering the bump swelling on the crown of his head.

"Enough," exhaled Neji exasperatedly. "Naruto, I told you to send a clone, not yourself. What if we were attacked and needed your full strength? I expect this to be the last time this happens."

"Of course, Neji-taichou," Naruto answered, making a rude gesture towards Sasuke who didn't show any outward sign of seeing it.

"Good," the captain nodded approvingly then turned to regard Shikamaru. "What is your suggestion on our next step?"

The lazy man sighed and unrolled a blank scroll from his pouch, quickly drawing a rough diagram of the fortress. "This is how it looks, right?"

"Actually," Sakura interrupted, plucking the piece of charcoal from Shikamaru's fingers. "The portions of wall here, here and here have been demolished." As she spoke, she drew squiggles along the areas that now lay in rubble.

"Okay," Shikamaru nodded, reclaiming his drawing utensil. "We must avoid these areas as much as possible."

"What?" asked Naruto incredulously. "Why?"

"A tiger will lick its cut paw before its healthy tail," spoke up Shino suddenly, startling Naruto.

"What he means, Naruto-kun," clarified Sai when the blond remained silent. "Is that the holes in the wall will be the most heavily guarded since that's where they're the most vulnerable."

"Oh! Why didn't you just say that?"

Shino shrugged in reply and fell back into silence.

"There are about six high-level ninjas within the compound," added Neji. "We can't risk letting any of them escape."

"Right," agreed Shikamaru making marks around the diagram. "Here's what my suggestion is."

* * *

A/N: Hoped you liked it! Please review! It makes me super happy!


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